Andreas Christensen must have fallen out with some Chelsea fans following his comments that he could be forced out of the club if he still lingers on the bench this season, but the kid is not too far from right and the fans must respect his wishes.
One of the stars last season under Antonio Conte, Christensen was a real shining light in defense. In fact, in the 2017/18 season, the young Dane was one of the reasons Chelsea fans could muster a smile. His efforts and sudden growth into a top player gave Blues fans a lot to shout about.
This season, the 22-year old has been reduced to the bench behind Maurizio Sarri’s preferred choice of Antonio Rudiger and David Luiz in central defense while Marcos Alonso and Cesar Azpilicueta maraud on the defensive flanks. That means Christensen can only play Carabao Cup and fringe Europa League games. But that’s not what any top player wants, and by virtue of last season’s consistent performances, Christensen can be considered a top player.
Given he is young, Christensen can actually be the future for the Blues along with Antonio Rudiger if Sarri does not bring any other player in the coming transfer windows in his mould. But his exit comments stem from frustration. Frustration young professionals may not be able to deal with in the right way.
And we must not forget, he is at that point in his career, where a prolonged stay off the first team would hamper his growth immensely. He will struggle to develop as much as he did last season if his numbers in the ongoing campaign continue as they are.
When a player sits out almost a month and is called on against Liverpool, as did happen in the Carabao Cup a few weeks ago, he will struggle to cope with the quality in front of him or fall in line with high frequency his teammates play with. So his mistakes can be forgiven, after all, he is a young player who has shown great talent to merit a spot in the first team at Chelsea.
In a year or two, David Luiz will not play at high levels anymore, but the question is will the club have Christensen by then? Don’t push him out.
